University of Wisconsin Madison - Badger Yearbook (Madison, WI)

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Knnodon . trt-et Huies Few campus institutions have been compelled to fight off the many-sided attack of depres- sion with more stubborn tenacity and against such overwhelming odds as has Wisconsin ' s widely famed fraternity and sorority system. There remains virtually no phase of Greek letter social life which is without its depression scars, and only the most naive and optimistic of rushing chairmen would deny that the whole structure has been badly shaken. Consider the following recorded facts: Three sororities and nine fraternities have given up the ghost since 1929-30. Sorority income has declined 3 6.69 per cent in the four year period, and fraternity income has hit 61.08 per cent of its 1929-30 level. Mortgage holders have taken over 40 per cent of the fraternity houses, and today only three of 40 houses are all paid for. Active sorority membership has shot downward by 2 3.01 per cent and pledge registration has been reduced to 3S.51 per cent of the total four years ago. Fraternity actives number 27.29 per cent less than they did in the 1929-3 period, and pledges are off by 3 0.5S per cent. These figures, of course, do not by the wildest stretch of the miagination tell the whole story. The bitterest Greek letter system opponent would be compelled to admit that in many field fraternities and sororities have proceeded in the face of tremendous odds to meet intelligently and constructively the new problems which economic adversity has produced. On the debit side of the balance sheet some pertinent statistics are essential for any permanent record. In telescoped form they follow below: Number of sororities in 1929-1930 24 Number of sororities in 1933-1934 21 Per cent of decrease 12.5 per cent Number of fraternities in 1929-1930 , . . . 46 Number of fraternities in 1933-1934 37 Per cent of decrease 19.56 per cent Number of sorority actives in 1929-1930 617 Number of sorority actives in 1932-1933 475 Per cent of decrease 2 3.01 per cent Number of fraternity actives in 1929-1930 1,220 Number of fraternity actives in 1932-1933 877 Per cent of decrease 27.29 per cent Number of sorority pledges .n 1929-1930 321 Number of sorority pledges in 1932-1933 207 Per cent of decrease 3 5.51 per cent Number of fraternity pledges in 1929-193 563 Number of fraternity pledges in 1932-1933 391 Per cent of decrease 30.5 5 per cent 241

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Gymnastics 123

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Nor do th«c hgures tell the whole story of fraternuy and sororKv enrollment. There are certa.n mtang.bles wh.ch no ledger, whatever cla.m for completenes, ' u makes, can contain Among these must be counted the deeded lowering of standards wh.ch most houses have been compelled to enact in recruiting members, and the numerous concessions both fraternities and soront.es have made to prospective pledges who had the cash but also m.nds of their own. Not the least concess.on to members has been the deeded lowering of house charges Str,kmg an a .rase trom a studv of all 21 surviving soror.t.es, one discovers that the md.v.dlal membe, p,, her hou.se S.6.98 per month now as contrasted w.th an average monthly expense of 62.13 tor the period of 1929-1930. H .ii c ui For fratern,t,es the reduction has been even more striking. Examining the total charges bv 7 houses, one hnds an average ind.v.dual pay.ng h.s fraternity S52.95 per month todav, whereal he was called upon tor S64.22 four years ago. ■ ' ' ' ' wh,-h r7l ' ° ' ' 7 ' ' ' ' ' ' ° - ' ' ' ° - ° f- ernities and soronties .h.ch deJmed on an average of upwards of 30 per cent. Room rent was reduced to meet the meT ' h r T K ' ' r ' ' ' ' ° ' P - ' ' -- ' -d i -tain the.r membership Charges for board were also slashed considerably, and were reflected in the fac that many houses cut their food costs by fullv 5 per cent. Beside these items of bread and bed, houses cut heavily from the initiation and pledge fee, No effective average is available, for the reductions range from a few dollars to nearlv a hundred recruk°new ' ' f ' ' ' T ' ' ' ' ' ' ' P ' ' ' ' ' ' ' members and recruit new ones fraternities and sororities launched the most rigid economv drive consistent ?res;.n° If 7 ocTff ' ' T ! ' T ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' - ' - ' - - dis- tressing of all so lal affairs. In the last named field, houses reluctantlv forgot about high priced orchestras and elaborate decorations. Hard-times parties made their appearance as coHe i depression phenomena. |-uMc ,,iai;e has .f ' n T Tu ' ' I ' ' ' ' ' ° ' ' ' ° ' ' ' ' ' ' ' S- °- --- on the budget ha generally been higher in the past few vears-the pay of the house steward or treasurer B not for nothing is more money being laid out for such work, for the houses have become n creasingly convinced that centralized financial control is indispensable to economical iLg. Thumbing through the records of fraternities and sororit.es and studving the factors which conspired to give the whole svstem a thorough shaking and tr.ore than a mild scare, the mja a uoTth Tu T: ' r ° ' ' ° ' ' P° ' ' ' °» - - . - f- he rea:on, anTJ up wuh half-truthful generalizations. Several significant factors, however, do emerge wi h recurring frequency and suftcient accuracy to permit their acceptance. Few will deny that the Greek letter group, particularly the fraternities, drifted with the standards of living and wild building sprees, for which they are still paving. Sororities always ore conservative, have performed an amazing piece of work ,n their ' financial mana ' gemenl .th most ot them, mortgage companies have had no difficulty. Most of them are paid up o„ [25]